The business value of Design Thinking
Design Thinking puts people at the heart of every solution. By understanding the needs of our customers we create value not only for our customers, but also for our business, and ultimately the society, while consuming fewer resources.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate the business value of Design Thinking (AKA Human-Centered Design) is to share a story from a real case. The case study below (from IDEOU.com) shows how using Design Thinking revealed previously overlooked blind-spots, lead to surprising innovation, and saved a multi-million dollar project from failure.
"Doug’s story illustrates the way human-centered design can lead to breakthrough innovations."
If you have time, watch the inspirational full story (20 min) by Doug Dietz about the journey of applying Design Thinking to the MRI industrial design project. It's worth watching!
The impact of discovering our "blind spots"
What was previously thought of as a technology problem, became a human problem. And switching to a human-centered lens has continued to save millions of dollars and improve patient experiences to this day.
$ Multi-millions → Unexpected "human" problems
$ Thousands → Solved the blind-spots
Additional Resources
Recommended reading (books)
- Creative Confidence: Unleashing the creative potential within us all - by David Kelley, Founder of IDEO
- The Design of Every Day Things - Don Norman (one of the founders of Human-Centered Design)
